by Lacey London
‘But you were getting along so well!’ I stammer, saddened that I appear to have misread the signals. ‘I don’t understand.’
Letting out a scoff, he tugs his t-shirt over his head and steps into the glass cubicle. ‘I’ve told you before and I will tell you again. This is purely a business trip. I will tolerate Stelios because we work with him, but that is all. That’s where the pleasantries end…’
He turns on the taps and his voice becomes muffled by the sound of thundering water.
‘If Owen wouldn’t have insisted on me coming here, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.’ Oliver continues. ‘The reason I’m being nice is because you asked me to. There’s nothing more to it!’
Staring at the glass box in the middle of the room, I suddenly feel rather uneasy.
‘But can’t you see how happy your mum is with him?’ I press, not wanting to push him to the point where he loses his temper.
‘My mom would be happy with a pig if it had a billion dollars in the bank.’ He retorts. ‘Who or where the money comes from is totally irrelevant.’
‘I disagree. I think there’s something very real and endearing about them.’ Reaching for my cosmetic case, I take a seat at the marble dressing table and flick on the illuminating lights. ‘My gut instinct is generally right and I, for one, think they’re the real deal.’
‘That’s good for you, Clara, but I will never accept Stelios as my mom’s partner.’ Oliver yells, above the sound of the shower. ‘Not now, not ever.’
‘Well, I believe Stelios really cares about Janie and vice versa…’ Starting to feel defensive over Stelios and Janie’s relationship, I scowl at the cubicle and stick out my tongue.
Oliver shouts something I don’t quite catch in response and I choose to ignore him. Stelios is taking us all out for dinner at one of his friend’s restaurants this evening and I have just thirty minutes to make myself presentable. Diving into a swimming pool when you’re fully clothed might seem like a fun idea at the time, but it also means you risk resurfacing like a kraken from the sea.
Attacking my face with various lotions and potions, I wonder how Gina is getting on in the next room. I don’t know whether it was Calix’s peculiar vinegar remedy or impulsively diving into Stelios’s swimming pool earlier, but Gina’s hangover from hell vanished into thin air. By the time the sun went down she was back to her usual self and if anything, more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than she was before.
With Stelios’s home having an entire guest wing, all six of us are in adjoining rooms, which are completely segregated from the rest of the building via a grand glass walkway. I was originally concerned that being holed up with Janie and Stelios might be a little too much for Oliver, but the guest wing is like a mansion in its own right. Consisting of six suites in total, each room is equipped with a self-contained high-spec kitchen, a hot tub and a bed fit for a king. Just a single one of these suites would blow most people’s entire homes out of the water.
Hearing the shower come to a sudden stop, I turn my focus to my wild hair. The sun has never been friendly to my coarse curls and it seems the sunshine in Mykonos is no exception. My chocolate coils fall in a frazzled mess down my back, creating a crown of frizz around my face. Resorting to drowning my tresses in serum, I hope for the best with the help of a dozen bobby pins.
‘You need to get dressed.’ I say to Oliver, as he steps out of the glass booth. ‘We need to leave in five minutes.’
Wrapping a towel around his waist, he pulls me towards him and I squeal as a drop of water falls from his hair and slips down my back.
‘You’ve cheered up.’ I remark, batting him away as he nuzzles his nose into my neck. ‘Maybe we should get one of these showers at home.’
‘Just because I don’t like Stelios doesn’t mean I don’t like you…’ He replies with a glint in his eye, softly pushing me towards the bed.
A delicious tingle runs along my spine as he kisses my neck, but before I can respond to his advances, a loud knocking disturbs us.
Untangling myself from a rather disappointed Oliver, I walk across the glistening tiles and fiddle with the handle to open the door.
‘Hey!’ Lianna grins, sashaying into the room in a fabulously sparkly dress. ‘How do I look?’
‘Amazing!’ Waiting for Vernon to follow her inside, I allow the door to close behind them. ‘That colour is great on you!’
‘I know!’ Heading straight for the mirror, Li twirls around and pouts as she poses for a selfie. ‘Hurry up and get dressed. Stelios has arranged for us to have pre-dinner drinks on the terrace before we leave.’
Nodding in response, I shove my feet into my favourite pair of Suave stilettos and reach for my watch.
‘Isn’t this place incredible?’ Vernon exclaims, wandering around the room and marvelling at the luxury fixtures and fittings. ‘You have the shower thing as well, huh?’
‘It’s alright, I suppose.’ Oliver takes a handful of clothes from the wardrobe and disappears into the bathroom.
Knowing his sudden change of attitude is due to our conversation about Stelios and Janie, I roll my eyes and fiddle with the buckle on my shoe.
‘Oh, come on!’ Vernon continues, as Oliver reappears dressed in a pair of chinos and a crisp shirt. ‘This thing could all be yours one day.’
Discreetly kicking Lianna, I pluck a few dresses from the railing and hold them up for her opinion.
‘Vern, I think Oliver’s had enough of the Stelios jokes now.’ Li warns, pointing to a grey floaty dress and dismissing the others. ‘You’ve had your fun with the teasing.’
Giving him a knowing look, Lianna follows me into the bathroom as Oliver takes a couple of beers from the minibar.
‘How’s your room?’ I ask, dropping my robe and shimmying into the dress.
‘Pretty much identical to this one.’ Perching on the edge of the bath, Lianna crosses her long legs and sighs as she looks around the enormous bathroom. ‘I think I’ve fallen in love.’
‘Fallen in love with what?’
‘With everything!’ Li explains, her eyes wide with lust as she admires the high-end toiletries. ‘Stelios, this place, Mykonos in general…’
‘That’s a whole lot of love.’ Motioning for her to zip me up, I remove a smudge of mascara from my cheek and quickly spritz myself in perfume.
‘You are aware you’ve just made yourself dinner for the millions of mosquitoes out there, aren’t you?’ She mumbles, fiddling with the clasp on my dress. ‘Gina’s just done the same thing.’
‘She’s coming out tonight?’ I ask in surprise. ‘I expected her to have relapsed into her hangover.’
‘Of course, she’s coming!’ Standing back to admire my dress, Lianna gives me the thumbs-up. ‘Marc would rather chop off his legs than let her miss an opportunity like this.’
‘Opportunity?’ I repeat, leaning towards the mirror and dusting a fleck of dust from the skirt of my dress. ‘It’s just dinner, isn’t it?’
‘It’s dinner with some of the most powerful men in Greece.’ Li says dramatically, as she ushers me out of the bathroom. ‘It’s called networking.’
‘I thought we were leaving networking at home.’ Discovering Marc and Gina by the door with the guys, I break into a smile. ‘When did you two get here?’
‘Just now.’ Marc replies, glancing down at his watch. ‘We would have been here an hour ago if Gina didn’t have to put her face paint on.’
Leading the way into the lobby, Marc turns the conversation to golf as the girls deliberately keep a few steps behind.
‘Gina! You look incredible!’ I gush, running my fingers over her hair and admiring her perfect makeup. ‘I’m guessing Calix’s hangover cure worked a treat?’
‘It sure did!’ Tugging on the hem of her short dress, Gina laughs happily. ‘I don’t know what was in there and I don’t think I want to, but I feel like I’ve had ten hours sleep and a double espresso.’
‘Well, whatever was in it, he should bottle t
he damn stuff and sell it.’ Lianna replies, waiting for me to adjust the clasp on my shoe before continuing along the hallway. ‘If it has this effect on everyone, he would make millions.’
In spite of consuming her weight in alcohol earlier, Gina looks better than I’ve seen her in a very long time. Her eyes are sparkling, her complexion is flawless and she’s jollier than you would believe possible for someone who was blotto just a few hours ago. Her choice of clothing leaves little to be desired, but where Gina is concerned, that would be the case regardless of her alcohol consumption. The tiny slip dress she’s wearing gives a whole new meaning to little black dress. It’s a little too short, a little too tight and dare I say it, a little too nineties.
‘What do you think of my dress?’ Gina asks. ‘Do you like it?’
‘I love it!’ Lianna answers quickly, looking both ways at the end of the lobby before deciding to turn right. ‘Very retro!’
Deciding to keep my own opinions to myself, I agree with Li. ‘If Cosmo is to be believed, retro is making a comeback.’
‘This bad boy is twenty years old.’ Gina cackles, adjusting her mammoth cleavage. ‘It was my pulling dress back in the day!’
‘Then why the hell are you wearing it now?’ I ask, suddenly understanding why it’s so ill-fitting.
‘I stumbled across it when I was packing.’ She explains breezily, smiling down at the ancient garment. ‘I never imagined it would fit again, but once I realised it did, there was no way I was leaving it behind.’
Not wanting to be the one to tell her that just because it zips doesn’t mean it fits, I smile sweetly as she continues to rave about her dress.
‘This dress and I have had some great times together. She deserves one last hurrah before I pack her away for good.’
‘You could send her to a charity shop.’ I muse, tucking my clutch bag under my arm. ‘Then someone else could show her a good time.’
‘Maybe…’ Gina purses her lips and sighs heavily. ‘I just don’t think I’m ready to say goodbye to her yet.’
‘Say goodbye?’ Lianna teases. ‘It’s just a bloody dress! Toss it into the recycling and move on.’
A look of hurt washes across Gina’s face and I immediately feel bad for mocking her cherished dress.
‘Leave her alone, Lianna.’ I scold, following the sound of Vernon’s laugh through a grand hallway. ‘If Gina wants to relive her teenage years, just let her. Nineties dress or no nineties dress.’
‘Actually, I think it’s eighties.’ Gina says seriously. ‘I bought it from a flea market in my student days.’
‘In that case, it’s probably fifties.’ Lianna whispers, shooting me a wink over her shoulder.
‘What was that?’ Gina asks, completely oblivious to Li’s joke.
Spotting the guys up ahead, I swallow a giggle and link my arm through Gina’s. ‘Nothing. Just ignore her.’
Walking up the marble steps, I discover the guys are already chatting animatedly with a very proud-looking Stelios. Even Oliver has a silly grin on his face as Marc and Vernon pretend to practice golf swings. Pleased to see everyone seems to be getting along, I smile to myself and look around the stunning entertaining area. The sleek flooring is highlighted by a colossal chandelier that is hanging prestigiously in the centre of the room. An array of opulent sofas face towards the French windows, which have been pulled back to allow the ocean breeze to flow into the building.
‘Canapé?’ A handsome Greek butler asks, holding out a plate of alluring nibbles.
Still rather full due to the snacks we ate earlier, I open my mouth to decline, but the words don’t quite come out as I anticipate.
‘That would be lovely, thank you.’ Plucking a blini from the platter, I grin happily and place it into a cloth napkin.
‘It is my pleasure.’ Moving on to Lianna, the polite butler nods and motions for us to sit down.
Taking a seat in a sumptuous armchair, I watch Stelios’s employees straighten the many vases of flowers and wonder how Janie is able to relax with so many people milling around the place. It makes me a little uncomfortable when Summer comes over to collect Pumpkin for her walk. I just can’t imagine wandering out of the shower to discover a chambermaid organising my underwear drawer.
The butler who served us our canapés approaches Stelios and subtly whispers in his ear, causing him to nod firmly and tap one of his many rings against the side of his glass.
‘My friends!’ Stelios says loudly, walking to the front of the room. ‘We are now ready for our pre-dinner drinks. Please, come with me.’
Hiking up my dress, I slowly make my way up the steps and follow Stelios out onto the terrace, where Janie is sitting at the head of a long table. Automatically heading over to her, I pause when I spot a card bearing my name in front of a chair on my left.
‘Why do we have designated seats?’ I ask Janie, pulling out the chair and sitting down. ‘I thought we were going out for dinner?’
‘We are.’ Janie replies casually, her Texan accent much softer than I remember it. ‘But first, we have some drinks to enjoy here.’
Knowing how much Janie enjoys a good drink, or five, I smile in response and marvel at the beautiful calligraphy on the name cards. Considering we’re only having a couple of drinks here, Stelios has really gone all out on the décor. Spectacular candelabras light up the dark sky, casting a flattering light over the pretty table and those gathered around it.
‘Thank you so much for joining us…’ Stelios begins, sounding like he’s headlining a conference and not addressing friends in the comfort of his own home. ‘In honour of your visit to my island, I have arranged for a very special drink for you all.’
Right on cue, a horde of eager butlers appear at the table and fill our glasses with golden bubbles.
Waiting until the staff have disappeared into the villa, Stelios holds his glass into the air.
‘This Champagne is special. Very special. My friend in France sent this especially for you. For my family.’
My eyes flit to Janie and I try to ignore the feeling of unease in my stomach. At first, I thought Stelios’s family comment was a slip of the tongue, but he must have addressed us as his family ten times already.
‘Please, taste the Champagne.’ He continues enthusiastically. ‘I cannot wait a moment longer to hear what you think!’
Pulling my frosted flute towards me, I take a sip and look at the others for their reactions. Not being a wine connoisseur, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be tasting. Apart from it being fizzy, ice-cold and deliciously crisp, it tastes exactly the same as the cheap plonk we order at Artemis every Friday night.
‘A complex bouquet with hints of straw and hay.’ Vernon says casually, sticking his nose into the glass and sniffing loudly. ‘Subtle notes of honey and peach, too.’
‘Yes!’ Visibly thrown by Vernon’s take on the Champagne, Stelios clicks his fingers and his butlers reappear.
‘Vernon and I used to own a bar in Barbados.’ Lianna explains, beaming at Vernon proudly. ‘Didn’t we, Vern?’
‘We sure did.’ Raising the glass to his lips once more, Vernon nods appreciatively. ‘And let me tell you, this is a very good bottle. The best.’
‘It’s the very best!’ Stelios confirms, signals for his butlers to pour more Champagne. ‘Only the best for my family.’
‘I’d prefer a beer…’ Oliver says cockily, much to my horror. ‘No offence.’
Leaning over the table, Vernon tugs on Oliver’s sleeve. ‘Dude, this is around a hundred bucks a glass.’
‘Just drink it, Oliver!’ I hiss, completely mortified.
‘It is no problem!’ Stelios stammers, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. ‘No problem at all. Calix! Calix!’
Before I can reassure Stelios that Oliver will drink the excruciatingly expensive fizz, Calix returns with a silver tray bearing a single bottle of beer.
‘Your beer, sir.’ Handing over the bottle, Calix nods and disappears back into the villa.
/> When Calix said nothing was out of bounds in his job description he wasn’t joking. First chauffeur and now butler. What’s next? Window cleaner and masseur?
‘Is this now to your satisfaction?’ Stelios asks eagerly, waiting with bated breath while Oliver takes a swig.
Nodding in approval, Oliver gives Stelios a thin smile and I breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Okay!’ Stelios grins, swiftly shaking off the beer incident. ‘Now that we all have a drink. I have a gift for you.’
Excited chit-chat echoes around the terrace and I look over at Janie for a clue as to what it could be.
‘In front of you, you will find a box.’ Stelios continues. ‘Small box.’
Plucking a velvet presentation case from beside my name card, I glance around the table and notice everyone else has one, too.
‘Please, look inside.’ Standing next to Janie, Stelios animatedly motions for us to open our presents.
Carefully pulling on the gold ribbon, I hold the box under the candelabra and flip back the lid. A striking red stone glistens back at me, leaving me completely lost for words.
‘What is it?’ Gina whispers, holding her box up to the light.
‘It is a ruby of the finest clarity.’ Stelios explains with pride. ‘My family, the Christopoulos family, has a medallion that signifies our unity.’
Reaching into his shirt, he pulls out a gold chain and produces the iconic medallion with glassy eyes.
‘The ruby stone is the most important feature of the medallion and now I want to extend the honorary gem to all of you…’
Totally floored by the incredibly sentimental gift, I take the gleaming stone from its silk-lined box and turn it over in my hands as Stelios continues to preach about the meaning of family.
‘My Janie has completed my circle.’ He says seriously, his voice thick with emotion. ‘My Janie is the final piece of my puzzle. My Janie’s family, is my family…’
Chapter 8
Looking around the bustling bar, I attempt to block out the sound of Gina and Janie cackling like a pair of hyenas and absorb the buzzing atmosphere. It turns out the restaurant Stelios was so keen on taking us to was literally next door to his villa. The Haven, as it is so appropriately named, is tucked away on a quiet corner of the bay, shielded by a wall of grand palapas and flowing drapes. Impeccably-dressed staff drift from table to table, ensuring nothing falls short of perfection for the many happy diners.
